Retired and a new journey begins

Been a while since I posted anything. I'm not in Thailand, thought I would share anyways. I decided a year ago I wanted to retire. I turned 58 a couple of months ago, I am done with work. I decided I'd rather spend time travelling. Dec 22 was my last day at work, I know I will not miss it. Great job, great company, but this sense of freedom is so much better.

I'm in Mexico now, Puerto Vallarta. I came down on the 4th, staying here until mid April. I stayed with friends that have a house in Nuevo Vallarta for the 1st few days. Now I've moved into a 3 bedroom condo in the Marina Vallarta area. I've got this incredible view of the boats in the marina. Day and night time, this view is amazing. When I figure out how to post pictures (I struggled with that before), I'll show you the view.

I came here partly because I love Mexico, I love the feel of it here, the culture and the food. I'm also surrounded by friends from home that come here, I really like that. We're having an appy night here on Saturday to break in my new home, 15 people are coming so far. For January I'm sharing the place with a really nice guy I've never met before. The friends I stayed with in Nuevo connected us, we we're both looking for a place. It will be too big for me for February, but two of my kids are coming down in March, so I have the room I need for them.

Sitting on the deck right now as the sun has gone down and you see the lights of the boats and surrounding condos, restaurants and bars come on. Perfect climate, sun every day. This so much beats being home in the snow and cold. The best way to start a retirement!

Nice one Lake Boy..plenty of great places in the world other than Thailand to settle down in retirement...and Central/South America has quite a few choices for living the life without breaking the bank...PV being one of them...plus for you much closer to home and with that the chance for family to visit or you to make regular visits home...

Chok Dee fella..I hope it all works out for you down there..congratulations on your retirement

Is there a "Help us to make America pay to build tunnels under that wall" section?

Do you think you'll ever come back to Thailand?

Haha haven't looked for a similar forum in Mexico,I want to limit my computer time, don't know if I will look for one. I'm thinking of a trip to Vietnam, which i've never seen, and Thailand in the fall. I'll make that call when the time comes closer

Looking forward to the pics. If you use your phone a lot download an app called Tapatalk. Search for the forum and log in. Posting pics is easy.

Congrats and all the best.

I'll try that, thanks. i expect most of my posting will be from my computer. 1st time i've ever had to buy my own computer, i've always had a company one. I bought a Samsung Galaxy Tablet, didn't like it so i exchanged it for a Microsoft Surface Pro. This I like, both a small laptop and a tablet, this works really well for me

Good luck with it, man. There are worse places to spend your winters... and especially one like this year. Great if you like winter sports, but intense cold does get to you after a while.

I had always intended to catch up with you in B.C. but my plans got changed when my friend moved away from Salmon Arm. The weather screwed up a couple of trips and last year we had the fires.

If I remember correctly, you have 3 daughters and the youngest one stayed with you. How are they doing?

Last year and this year are bad winters...fortunately I get to avoid that now. My 26 year old is at home, moving out on her own in February. That's a big step for her given the mental illness she has dealt with. My 24 year old got married in June; she got pregnant in July and bought a condo in September. Her and her husband live in my house, the condo will be ready in July. It's a 15 minute walk from my house, that's great. My 16 year is in grade 11, she'll live with my middle daughter while I travel. She's been her mom for the past 10 years so that's a natural transition

Thanks for the reply. Changes happen to all of us. The secret is to adapt and make the best of them. Something I learned a long time ago is we don't need all the crap we seem to encumber ourselves with. Good luck with your choices. I have a very good friend who has pretty much given up on Thailand, but he loves Vietnam. You've got to find your own niche.

One thing about Mexico... booze is cheap. Although it's been 20 years since I was there I remember buying a whole gallon of good rum for $8 Canadian. It would have been $40 in Canada at that time. When we drove down we filled up some empty gas/fuel containers with Rum and got it all the way back to Canada. So yes, I guess that makes me a criminal. 555